The problem, summed up.

"The American people say: don't touch Social Security, don't touch Medicare, don't cut defense. That's 84 percent of the federal budget. If you can't touch 84 percent of the federal budget – and, by the way, they also don't want to touch revenue. You're down to 16 percent of the budget, at a time where we're borrowing forty cents of every dollar they spend." Retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)